[Sorry, it’s been a while, here we go~!] I’ve come to realize that I’m THAT friend. Yes, the one you can’t take out in public without something weird or embarrassing unfolding. Granted, in my defense, it’s not intentional but at times it may seem like self sabotage. It happens enough times, that it definitely impacts my ability to make a decision on the second instance it may happen, which leads me to a double-hitter for this VTMAS. My friends are very aware that I enjoy goin

I talk a lot about my days in FFA (Future Farmers of America). It was a great time in my childhood and I made some amazing, long-term friends. Even now, in our ever growing lives, we are spread all over and we still reminisce about those times at the fair or in the yard working cattle. This comes right back to a particular fair that produced a lot of stories for us all. It was a strange Wonderland and so much smaller, stranger than the other fairs we had experienced. Alachua

Many of us so-called Gamers completely went nuts with Rockband when it first released. It was a cutting edge game that made it seem as if you could be the next Rock Star. To boot, if you dropped the cash you could have a drum set, but most of us stayed with the guitar. Even then, there was the occasional person who loved singing along to their favorites. What made it more compelling was the fact it was Multiplayer! That’s right! You could have a drummer, lead guitarist, bass

I remember my Great Grandmother once telling me that the small section of Orange County that my family called home was once labelled Rattlesnake Ridge. Growing up there, I can attest to this being very true. An interesting thing about rattlesnakes is how girthy they become. They don’t grow too long, but rather thicker and fatter depending on what they’ve been eating, which can include rats to even raccoons and cats. On this day, I was just a little girl, maybe ten at most. My

I believe at some point during our teen, pre-adult age we are curious enough to visit a cemetery at night. Well, my friends and I were on that cuspis of curiosity one late weekend night. In fact, we were all huddled there debating on what we wanted to do and somehow it came up to two choices: Cemetery or Wal-Mart? So we did what any practical person would do; flipped a coin. “Cemetery it is!” Ash declared. We all loaded up into my big blue 1992 GMC Yukon. I love (and miss) th

If you’ve been following this series, you’ve already been introduced to one of my all time best friends, Martin. The best part was I actually took a creative writing class with him and we became great buddies, but my expertise of the Bovine sorts sometimes led to some interesting questions from my peers. This was the one time I recall having a conversation with Martin about cows while I was still in high school. I can’t remember if I was driving him home or sitting in class o

If you knew me in high school, you knew I did  everything I could to NOT go home. This even meant driving around at random, as pathetic as it may sound. Regardless, it made for some fun adventures in the long run. On this particular night I had my hot Asian friend John along for the ride. I believe it may have been October at the time, we were either in 11th or 12th grade, but he wanted me to take him to some scary places. At first I think he wanted to visit a cemetery but I

Mudding. Either you know what I just said or wondering why this word should be significant. Growing up it was the family outing to go to the Mud Hole and later in my life it was our dating, fiancee and married couple thing to do. What is Mudding? It is often a “sport” involving vehicle, mainly trucks, driven through mud holes or muddy swampy bits, in an attempt to not get stuck and get super messy. Strangely enough, it can be very fun and exhilarating and for the cost of a ta

To be fair, I posted about the husband’s time being wasted so now it’s my turn to share one about me. That’s right, she who rarely drinks has gotten WASTED once. If you’ve been reading these, you can rule out my 21st birthday as the culprit. Instead, it was my 23rd birthday that got me. It was Wednesday, and I was officially 23. I decided to meet up with my friend Alisha for a Chocolate Shot and then call it a day. What I did not know, was my husband found out and well, when

Being in Central Florida has its benefits, including going to a theme park to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. Unlike most of my peers, I had no interest in drinking so it was a great plan to have an above average celebration without the alcohol. I had chosen to go to Universal’s Islands of Adventure with my two best friends, Martin and Karly, and boyfriend Justin (Now husband). Hours had gone by at this point, Karly had headed home, and now we were waiting in line to get

At some point in my high school career I took a Creative Writing course. We were a small mix of students from different backgrounds, different grades, and most definitely each unique in the term “creative”. Many stories came out of this class but it was that first day that we all found ourselves sitting there thinking, For the love of mankind, do not ask about the hole in the teacher’s neck, Jenny… Our teacher, who I absolutely enjoyed and it’s so hard to find a creative wri

Borders and the cattle yard were my two favorite places to go. I stayed away from home where so much conflict was common. Like I was expressing before, it wasn’t uncommon to find me sitting at Borders and it was awesome martin and April were known to show. Occasionally, I would find myself alone… I had pulled up in my famous 1992 Blue Yukon, and had entered the Border’s cafe area and began drawing. Sadly, no one I knew was there, even after perusing through the aisleways hopi

If anyone here knows me very well, they could confirm I have a love for fishing. Living in Florida is awesome since I have access to several realms of fishing from Freshwater, Brackish (Mixed), and Saltwater fishing. As a young girl, I mainly did the freshwater fishing with the occasional deep sea trip. Nowadays, my husband and I indulge in brackish fishing where Salt meets Fresh. Anyhow, many awkward and weird things can go down and so I have MANY fishing stories. This one i

This actually happened the other week. Many of my friends who have had the pleasure of hanging out with me in person can confirm one thing: Val is a magnet for weirdos. I was sitting at the McDonald’s with a good friend of mine. She had asked for some advice on gathering research for a story she wanted to write. We reviewed what she had already gathered and pointed out that she needed at least a file or notebook to put down her thoughts, wants, and needs for the story as she